Method of cooking food



Jan. 25, I944.

/ METHOD OF COOKING FOOD H. 'r. AUSTIN- 2,339,974

Filed March 22, 1940 ATTORNEYS mama Jan. 25, 1944 UNITED STATES- PATENTOFFICE Harold '1'. Austin, Seattle,

Wash, asslgnor to Patents, Inc., a corporation Washington ApplicationMarch 22, 1940. Serial No. 325,375

I 8 Claims. My present invention relates to animproved method of cookingfood in its natural state and with a high degree of speed and withoutloss of important food elements. It is well known in the cookery artthat the operations of baking,.

roasting, boiling, and the like tend to destroy or drive off from thefood valuable food elements, some of which may be commonly referred toas vitamins, and thus, although the food is digestible and palatable,the consumer fails to benefit as fully as he should.

It is also well known that the present methods of cooking are slow anduneconomical because i of the necessity of maintaining a high degree ofheat over a protracted period of time in order to properly drive theheat into the food so that the inner cells are cooked as well as theouter cells.

In addition to the foregoing undesirable conditions mentioned, it is tobe pointed out that in the restaurant business the two commodities whichthe restauranteur has to sell are food and space. The amount of foodthat can he sold at any given time depends entirely upon theavailability of space for .the accommodation of patrons. If it werepossible to rapidly prepare or order steaks, chops, and all manner ofdishes with a minimum amount of time consumed in the cooking operation,the patron is more promptly and more satisfactorily served, and at thesame time he may dwell a shorter length of time in the restaurant,thereby permitting the accommodation of additional patrons more often.

In carrying out my invention, I utilize an oven -'or cooking unit whichis provided with a suitable source of radiant heater units disposedwithin the cooking deviceand having a remote control; In addition, thecooking device is provided with means for making it air tight andfor'the disposition of food within the device in such a manner that itcan be acted upon by the radiant heater unit.

To the interior of the cooker unit is conveyed compressed air, which maybe preheated, and is used to subject and maintain the food within thecooking appliance under high air pres- The subject matter of thisapplication now presented is directed to a method of cooking orpreparing food which was partially disclosed as presented in anapplication for Letters Patent,

Serial No. 278,771, flled June 12, 1939, and which is now Patent No.2,305,056, patented December 15, 1942. This application is acontinuation in part of said earlier flled application.

The principal object of my invention is to originate a method forrapidly and economically cooking food.

Another. object of my invention has been to originate a method forcooking food whereby a greater proportion of the food elements aremaintained within the food than has previously been I obtainable by .theconventional cooking methods.

A further object of the invention resides in originating a, method ofcooking food wherein is employed compressed air to materially aid thecooking operation.

Still another object of the invention has been the-origination of amethod of preparing food wherein radiant heater units may be employed inconnection with compressed air during the cooking operation.

A still further object of my invention has been the provision of amethod of cooking food wherein is employed 'pre-heated compressed airwhich used in practicing my method. It will be understood that changesand alterations may be made in the exemplifying structures illustratedin the accompanying drawing within the scope of my subjoined claims andwithout departing from the principles of my invention.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through anexemplary type of oven in which can be practiced the principles of myinvention,

Fisure2 is a view in cross section taken on lines 2 -2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a similar cross-sectional view illustrating a modified formof the invention.

I Referring to the drawing, the numeral 'Iindicates the end and thenumeral 8 the outer walls of a substantially cylindrical oven casing.Supported within and spaced from the walls 1 and 9 are the cylindricalchamberwall 9 and the end or head wall iii. In the space between thewalls 8' and 9, and I and "I would ordinarily be placed suitableinsulating material ll used for getpurpose of reducing wastefulradiation of The oven proper is divided by the horizontal wall l2 intoan edit or pre-heating chamber II and cooking chamber It. The open endof the' with the front of the door I i is used to 'flrmly clamp the-doorover the opening of the oven when the latch is is secured in the latchmember 18.

either simultaneously or in successive steps,

may best serve with different foods.

In some instances it may be desired to place the food'in the chamberand-first subject it to com- Within the chamber l3 and Il a're radiatingheater elements 23 placed around, the inner sur face of the chambers 13and II and spaced apart according to their need. In the example shown inFigures 1 and 2, I have indicated the radiant heater elements to be ofthe electric type which would necessarily require support members 24 tohold them in place within the chamber. As can be seen, some willbedisposed in the chamber [3 and the remainder in the chamber I4.

.A pipe 26 connected toa three-way valve 28 passes through the lowerwall of the oven and conveys air from the tank 30 to the coil 11 of tubing which surrounds the chamber wall 9. A nozzle or tip 29 permits thefree flow of air from the coil 21 into the chamber It. The purpose ofthis coiled arrangement of'the pipe around the chamber I9 is to pre-heator super-heat the compressed air to a degree above its normal heat dueto compression to facilitate the cooking operation and to take advantageof heat which might otherwise escape uneconomically. The coiling of thetube from the rear of the device towards the front is unimportant-as itis obvious that the device would work with the opposed arrangement.

Air pressure is maintained in the tank 30 by means of the compressor 3|operated by the motor 32 in the conventional manner. 1

A pressure gauge 34 is indicated as mounted on the pipe 35 andcommunicates with the interior of the chamber to indicate the airpressure therein. g

It will, of course, be understood that the electric strip heatersindicated in Figures 1 and 2 are connected together in suitablearrangements and to -a source of electric energy. They are under thecontrol of conventional switch mechanisms so that variations in theamount'of energy radiated in the chambers l3 and I I can be obtained. Nocontrol mechanism has been indicated for the reason that the inventionin this instance does not lie therein.

In Figure 3 I have illustrated a portion of a cross-sectional viewsimilar to Figure 2, but with pressed air for a period of time and thento radiant heat to finally cook it. It is a well-known characteristic ofthe compressed air that it, in thehigher pressures, has become heatedthrough compression. Occasionally certain foods can be cooked throughthe use of compressed air alone, and without the necessity of subjectingthe food to radiant heat.

In other instances the practice of the method would require thesubjection of the food to compressed air and radiant heatsimultaneously, but with a gradually increasing air pressure. In

a such a case the increased pressure would tend to a modification of thetype of radiant heater eleple and is practiced with many variations. The

essential steps of the method consist in placing food within the chamberl4 and confining it there by closing the door i5 and latching it andclamping into place through the operation of the arm drive the heatdeeper into the food being cooked than would otherwise be obtainable ifthe pressure would remain static within the cooking chamber.

In the oven described in the foregoing speciilcation and shown in.thedrawing, I have shown two chambers l3 and M. In chamber l3 air from thesource or supply tank 30 is first introduced in a pre-heated conditionand then passes through distribution outlets 45 in the plate l2 into thecooking chamber M. In this way the inherent heat' of the compressed airis raised materially before it is used in the cooking operation.

I have obtained particularly good results with certain foods bysimultaneously subjecting the food to radiant heat and compressed airfor a pre-determined length of time and then by decompressing the ovenwhile continuing to subject the food to more radiant heat. In this wayin the initial stepaof the cooking operation heat is driven into thefood and then the pressure is removed while the outer surface may beadditionally seared or roasted or browned, as may be desired. a

Time elements vary during the cooking of practically every type of food.The best illustration that can be given of the emciency and economy ofmy method of cooking is demonstrated by the following description:

A thoroughly chilled steak cut three-quarters of an inch thick wasplaced in a cooking receptacle, as 40, and placed in the cooking chamber.by raising the pressure to such a degree that Excellent results areobtained in the preparation of certain foods by practicing this step inconnection with the other steps above described.

In addition to heating or pre-heatlng the comu' and IS. The hand wheel apressed air, a modification of the practice of my method, heretoforesetforth, relates to variations of the handling of the radiant heat andthe compressed air during the cooking stage. In some instances thecompressed air may be continuously raised in pressure throughout all thecooking stage, while in other cases the cooking chamber may be for ashort time subjected to compressed air and then decompressed and thefood permitted to continue to cook while being subjected either to a lowpressure of compressed air, or solely to radiant heat.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is 1. A method of cooking food whichcomprises confining food materials in an oven, introducing andmaintaining compressed air in the oven, and

surrounding the food with sources of radiant heat to radiate directlyupon the food material, said radiant heat being supplied independentlyof the compressed air.

2. A method of cooking which comprises confining food material in anoven, introducing compressed air into the oven, and surrounding the foodwith sourcesof radiant heat to radiate directly upon the food materialwhile. simultaneouslyand gradually increasing the pressure of thecompressed air, said radiant heat being supplied independently of thecompressed air.

3. A method of cooking which comprises confining food material in anoven, introducing and maintaining compressed air in the oven at auniform degree of compression, surrounding the food with sources ofradiant heat to radiate directly upon the food material, said radiantheat being supplied independently of the compressed air, and raising theintensity of the radiant heat.

4. A method of cooking which comprises confining food material in anoven, introducing and maintaining compressed air in the oven whilesimultaneously surrounding the food with sources of radiant heat toradiate directly upon the food during a predetermined length of time,said radiant heat being supplied independently of the compressed air,and then discontinuing the irradiation of the food while continuing tomaintain the food material under the attained pressure of compressedair.

5. A method of cooking which comprises confining food material to thecooking chamber of an oven, introducing compressed air intoa preheatingchamber and there heating said air, transporting said preheatedcompressed air into the cooking chamber, maintaining the air in thecooking chamber under compression while simultaneously surrounding thefood with sources of radiant energy to radiate directly upon the food,said radiant heat being supplied independently of the compressed air.

6. A method of cooking which comprises confining food material in anoven, subjecting compressed air to radiant heat and introducing andmaintaining the same in the oven in a uniform degree of compressionwhile simultaneously surrounding the food with sources of radiant heat fto radiate directly upon said food, said radiant heat being suppliedindependently of the compressed air.

7. A method of cooking which comprises confining food material in anoven, introducing preheated compressed air into the oven and maintainingit under compression, and surrounding the food with sources of radiantheat to radiate directly upon said food material, said radiant heatbeing supplied independently of the com-

